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Ira Aten, lawman - Part I

Drew Gomber/¡Vamanos! Columnist

Posted:
10/12/2012 02:49:51 PM MDT

In 1862, the life expectancy in America was a little over 40 years. Ira Aten, destined to become a famous - at least in his own time, lawman - was born on September 3rd of that year in Cairo, Illinois. At least as far as life expectancy was concerned, and especially considering his line of work, Ira was destined to set records.

In 1876, when Ira was 14, his family relocated to a small farm near Round Rock, Texas. Shortly before his 16th birthday, Ira was witness to one of the Old West's most famous gun battles. On July 19, 1878, Sam Bass and his gang shot it out with assorted lawmen, some of whom were Texas Rangers, in Round Rock. Bass and his gang came in second best, with only one of them escaping alive. Sam himself lived for a day or two before succumbing to his wounds. It was that battle that Ira Aten would later claim was his inspiration to join the Texas Rangers.

Which is exactly what he did at the age of 20, in March of 1883, joining the Frontier Battalion. He was sent to Uvalde, Texas, to join Company D, under Captain Lamar Sieker.

Bad guys

By the time of Aten's arrival, the Comanches had been subdued - physically, anyway - and the rangers spent most of their time tracking outlaws and smugglers coming up from Mexico. Still, it was two years before Aten would see any action. And it was catastrophic and disastrous action for the rangers, at that. Six rangers, led by Corporal Ben Lindsay, set out hoping to intercept some escaped convicts before they reached Mexico.

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Near the Rio Grande, the rangers spotted two riders, each leading a horse. Assuming that if they weren't the convicts, they were probably horse thieves, the seven rangers gave chase. Unfortunately, as they rode into a creek, several of their horses foundered and went down in the mud. Only Aten and rangers Ben Reilly and Frank Sieker (the captain's younger brother), managed to clear the creek without injury and continue after the men.

When they got in shouting distance, Reilly called out "We're Texas Rangers - you're under arrest!" And with that, all hell broke loose. A rifle ball slammed into Reilly's thigh, smashing the bone and causing Reilly to slide out of his saddle. Aten and Sieker immediately returned fire, wounding both men. However, before turning to follow his companion, the second fugitive fired again, and the bullet slammed into Frank Sieker's heart. He was dead before he hit the ground.

A few moments later, the other rangers arrived and gave chase, but were met by a large group of citizens when they cleared the next hill and found a small village. The locals were not happy. They claimed that the two slightly wounded men, rumored to have been related to Deputy Sheriff Dano Gonzales, were only acting in self-defense and that they thought the rangers were the horse thieves! To add insult to injury, the sheriff proceeded to arrest all four uninjured rangers and placed them in the calaboose for nearly a month before they were allowed to obtain bond. It was a violent disaster.

Promotion

In 1885, Ira was promoted to corporal of Company D, which involved a lot of detective and undercover work. Fence cutting was a felony at that time in Texas, and the rangers had their hands full with men who felt that cutting fences was their God-given right. One dark night, Aten and another ranger watched as four men cut a fence. The rangers accosted them, and a gunfight broke out. When it was over, two of the men lay dead on the ground and the other two could not surrender quickly enough.

Next: Chasing killers

SOURCES: IRA ATEN, LAST OF THE OLD TEXAS RANGERS, by Allen Hatley and THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF WESTERN GUNFIGHTERS by Bill O'Neal.

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